Pinocchio and its Lasting Legacy: A Study across Adaptations and Dubbings

This paper analyses how Italian culture is represented and translated through dubbing in three cinematic adaptations of Carlo Lorenzini’s Italian classic, Le Avventure di Pinocchio (1881/1993). The first adaptation examined was the animated film produced by Walt Disney, which brought fame to the story in the US and was dubbed from English into Italian in 1947. Then, the 2002 feature-film Italian adaptation directed by Italian actor Roberto Benigni, who also starred as the wooden puppet. The dubbing from Italian into English of this film was carried out by the American distributor and employed the voices of famous English-speaking actors. Finally, the latest 2019 Italian film adaptation, directed by Matteo Garrone, was dubbed from Italian into English using Italian actors speaking in English, as requested by the director himself. The analysis demonstrates how Disney’s Pinocchio minimises cultural references to Italy and to the source novel, which the Italian dub partially reinstalls. Benigni’s work is rich in cultural references to Italy, specifically in the protagonist’s idiolect. However, the English dubbing was highly domesticating, removing much of the Italianness of the original and was harshly criticised by film critics and international audiences. Garrone’s adaptation carefully preserves the cultural identity and authenticity of the source text, even from a nonverbal perspective. The English dubbing adopts a foreignising perspective, reflected not only in the Italianised English spoken by the dubbing actors but also in the translation choices that foreground references to Italian culture (e.g., through loan words) wherever possible.